This piece captures well the current problems plaguing the state of Oregon. I agree with pretty much everything Dr. Fruits shared, and he's correct, unless drastic changes are made, a very painful economic reality will continue to unfold. But I want to bring attention again to the even deeper problem, which is namely the debasement of the US dollar and how it's setting our system built on top of it to fail. The Federal Reserve has been debasing the US dollar by increasing the supply of dollars by approximately 8% per year since 1971. This drives high inflation, which increases the costs for local, state and federal governments faster than they can increase revenue. (people's wages also don't keep up with inflation, so life just keeps getting more expensive for everyone). So everything gets more expensive, and there is not enough revenue to pay the increased expenses, so services suffer. This is the baseline foundation everyone is dealing with because we have broken money. This must be fixed and the Federal Reserve abolished if we want long term health. We need sound money that cannot be debased (which is another term for all dollar holders being stolen from) Now that said, how responsible local and state governments are is another issue. As Dr. Fruits has said, Oregon has been particularly bad in it's fiscal decisions. Where is this going? Oregon is not on a good trajectory and we have a very painful road ahead even if we make significant changes. Go look into the numbers yourself. It's just math. One more thing, though Oregon has been under one party rule for decades, these economic issues are not simply a partisan issue. Look at the US federal government's fiscal position. It's just as bad and both parties have zero appetite for fiscal restraint. https://oregoncatalyst.com/89845-7-dire-economic-warnings-oregon.html